Fiesta 1.6TDCi Engine Cutting Out

[DockerillH]

Hi all,

I hope you're ready for a long read, as I've got completely stuck and am in need of some help!

So recently I bought a 2009 Fiesta 1.6TDCi for very cheap, as it would not drive since the DPF was blocked solid. I then fitted a new DPF and away the car went, or so I thought. After driving for 10 miles or so, I noticed that the cooling fan had been running for a long time, odd I thought, since the coolant temperature seemed normal! However the car seemed to drive perfectly. Suddenly, though, out of nowhere 'ENGINE MALFUNCTION - service NOW' appears on the dash and the engine instantly cuts out, leaving me coasting to a stop. The engine would restart, however would splutter and stop when trying to pull away.
After towing home and connecting my OBDII reader, I got a P0087 Fuel Rail pressure too low code.
I left the car for a day, and after clearing the code, the car seemed to be fine. Therefore I went for another drive, monitoring the fuel pressure along the way. As last time I drove it, the car seemed to be fine, and the fuel pressure was showing no strange anomalies when accelerating. However once again, after a few miles of driving and then engine warming up, it suddenly dies. However this time I get a P0698 Sensor Reference Voltage C Low code.
The car would now refuse to start whilst the code was present. Although, if cleared would start, and idle very roughly and loudly until it quickly stalls.
I then read up online, and decided to unplug the EGR valve, as it is apparently a common cause of this problem, however this did not help. After more reading into my symptoms, I decided to replace the camshaft position sensor.
This did appear to fix my problems, as the car would now start and idle smoothly. But, when attempting to pull away to re-park, I pressed the accelerator and the revs suddenly shot up to around 3K rpm, and pressed me into my seat! I thought this was very strange, and whilst playing with the accelerator found that I could gradually increase the rpm to around 1500, however after this it would shoot up to 3000, with only slight accelerator input.
I have since tried unplugging the MAF, MAP and DPF sensors, however they have made no difference.
The only strange thing is that whilst monitoring the fuel rail pressure, when I gradually press the accelerator, the fuel pressure rises as the RPMs increase to 1500. But, once the RPMs start to shoot up to 3000, the fuel pressure does not seem to increase much, until I take my foot off and everything drops back to normal.
This brings me to today, when I tried starting the car, and I got a very rough idle (could see the needle jumping up and down). A couple times it dropped so low the low oil pressure warning light came on, however it then recovered itself. I tried revving the car up at this point, and it was very rough, and sounded as though one cylinder wasn't firing! It seemed to go back to 'normal' (smooth idle and revs suddenly shooting up with accelerator) once it was slightly warm though.
At this point there is now only one code - P0405 EGR Valve position sensor A circuit low. This seems odd as I've had no EGR related problems before.

This is basically as far as I've got, the only things to note are:
The car currently has 135000 miles, and I was told by the previous owner the fuel filter was recently replaced. The fuel filter housing certainly looks new, however I cannot find an invoice for the fuel filter itself.
When I bought the car, I noticed a lot of what seemed to be diesel on top of the engine and around a couple of the injectors, and it has run down the side of the engine.
When the car is turned off, the fuel rail pressure quickly drops to 0 within about 20 seconds.
Seems to be quite a strong smell from the exhaust, however this could just be me.
The problems seem to start once the car has warmed up, and are sometimes 'fixed' once it is cold.

At this point I can't tell if it's a mechanical issue or an electrical one - or both!

I greatly appreciate any light that can be shed on this, as I am not a mechanic by any means so I am completely confused at this point!

Any ideas?


 

[DockerillH]

Anyone?

[isetta]

I don't have any answers. But I am not sure if you have the earlier 16valve twin cam 90bhp engine or the the later 8valve single cam 95bhp engine. 

Just in case anyone else can help and it depends on which engine, can you tell us

[DockerillH]

Hi, yes should have included that.

It's the 16 valve 90bhp engine.

Thanks

[TomsFocus]

Is it a generic OBD reader?  If so, I'd recommend getting Forscan on it.

It sounds like you may have a few different problems tbh!  

One cylinder missfiring when cold is a classic failed glow plug symptom so that's worth a check with a multimeter and potentially an easy fix.  You also mention diesel around the injectors, is it fresh diesel or is it bubbling up from below?  Injector seals are common on these.

Shooting up to 3k is definitely a new one on me though!  I assume you've checked throttle pedal percentage is correct on live data? 

EGR faults are common on these (and won't be fixed by unplugging lol), they can cause the cut-out and the previous sensor code you had but I've not seen it cause that 3k jump before.  

[DockerillH]

I think I've got very unlucky with this one! Feels like everything's failing.

I hadn't thought about glow plugs before, as I haven't got an error code for them, so I will definitely give those a test tonight.
It seems to be fresh diesel lying around the injectors, however I can't see it leaking from anywhere. I have bought a pack of new injector seals so hopefully I can take a look at the injectors at the same time.
I was hoping it would be the throttle pedal itself causing the RPM jump, but when I monitored it the throttle percentage stays constant whilst the RPMs rise, and seems to change correctly as I press it down.
I didn't realise the EGR could cause it to stall, so I'll take that off at some point and see if it's blocked up.

As for my OBD reader, I have a cheap ELM327 bluetooth one. Can I get Forscan on my phone?

Thanks!

[TomsFocus]

You can get a Forscan app assuming its a smart phone yeah.  You'll need a wireless dongle though.  We tend to recommend the ones from TunnelRat.  Costs about £18.

[Tizer]

54 minutes ago, DockerillH said:

As for my OBD reader, I have a cheap ELM327 Bluetooth one. Can I get Forscan on my phone?

Best to download the free Demo version first to see if your bluetooth adapter is compatible, then if it works then you can buy the paid for version. 

Some of the cheap ones either do not work or don't work properly. 

[isetta]

Forscan is free for windows. It is about 6 quid for Apple/ android.i have both. Also have tunnel rat obd fault code readers, both the usb one and WiFi one. 

[DockerillH]

Thanks guys,

Got forscan installed on my laptop this morning and got it working to find the following codes:
P0405 for the EGR as before.
P0698 voltage reference circuit C low.
U0073 Control module data bus off.

The last two codes appeared when the engine suddenly stalled, and makes me think this is a wiring issue - maybe a cracked loom?
Also tested all of the glow plugs and found one of them is indeed dead, so will be replacing it.
Took off the EGR and it looks as though it hasn't been replaced since the car was new, so will be replacing that also.

I monitored the fuel pressure compared to RPM again this morning, and found that as the RPM increases the fuel pressure actually drops - any ideas why this would happen?

[TomsFocus]

Fuel pressure dropping is definitely odd.  Was the filter a good quality one?  

It sounds like the fuel pump can't keep up with demand but could also be a faulty sensor I guess.  Unless the diesel is leaking out around the injector(s) when under pressure?  That would explain your fresh diesel on the head.  If that's the case, be very careful when looking for the leak as high pressure can do serious damage to your eyes and hands!

[DockerillH]

The fuel filter is apparently made by crosland filters. I haven't heard of them before so not sure if it's good or not.

Pulled the injectors out today and all 4 were covered in diesel to the point where they were dripping into the cylinder whilst I was taking them out. I'm assuming this isn't normal!
Do you think this could cause the revving as extra diesel was being pulled into the cylinders? Certainly explains the leak!
Luckily I've got a pack of all new seals so should be an easy fix.

[DockerillH]

Hi all, just a quick update

So after replacing the injector seals and a few sensors, including the EGR, most problems have gone away.
However, I still have the p0405 code, which leads me to believe I have a wiring problem.?
I am trying to test the EGR sensor wire, however not sure which pin of the ECU it is.

Anyone know where I could get a wiring diagram?

[iantt]

Searching Google I found this. 😉😉

[DockerillH]

Hi, thanks for finding that! I haven't been able to find that anywhere. If you could send me the link that would be great.

I'm looking to test the wire on pin 28, however as there are 3 connectors going into the ECU, which one would have pin 28?

[iantt]

Youve got connectors a b and c . You want connector a. Then if you look at connector face you will see the pin numbers for the outside pins, from that you can easily work out pin 28. The connectors are colour coded. I will see if I can find what colour connector "a" is. 

Edit, I've just found out the ECU, wiring colours  and pin data changed on build date 1/08/2009 . So you need to know when you're was built.

[DockerillH]

Mine was built 11/03/2009

[iantt]

I've sent you a message.

[Alzatar]

I'm raising this thread from the dead here, but did you find a fix for this problem? I have exactly the same error codes but not the same symptoms. With EGR plugged in, car cuts out after approximately 10-15 mins and with it unplugged it runs/idles for about an hour before stalling and throwing the P0698-62 and U0073-21 DTCs. I've replaced the, EGR, crankshaft position sensor, and had a data trasfer on to a new ECU, all to no avail. Oddly enough, you mention injector seals, I changed cyclinder no.2 seals before this started happening. Quite possibly unrelated, but who knows.